


First Time in Goodneighbor?

by Nebulad



Series: Whiskey Molotov [12]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, First Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 04:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6500362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebulad/pseuds/Nebulad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Whoa, whoa. Time out.” Audrey jumped a little, terror making her limbs feel electric and out of her control. A man came out of the alley— a very, very sick man if she knew anything about medicine. He didn’t… seem ill, but he definitely looked it. His skin was pulled tight over his face and seemed to be tearing, and his eyes were entirely black. He was missing a nose and his ears were fused to the sides of his head, both of which were much more obvious clues.</p><p>He was also wearing some kind of American Revolution costume, but she could only try to explain so many weird fucking things in her head at once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Time in Goodneighbor?

“You _heard_ what the officers in Diamond City said about this place, mum,” Codsworth said, his urgency growing the closer they got to Goodneighbor. Audrey, in contrast, couldn’t _wait_ to find the place. She hadn’t slept in a day and a half, she hadn’t eaten in twelve hours, and the water she’d been tentatively sipping was so irradiated that she was afraid to drink it. If Goodneighbor was any sort of decent settlement, they’d at least have that much for her.

“We’ll be fine,” she assured her robot, her knees shaking with exertion. She was past the worst of the Raiders and… _supermutants,_ that’s what they were called. She hadn’t been… _out_ long, and was having trouble keeping up with everything.

Or anything.

It was a lot more violent than before the war, but she supposed the civil distrust was about the same. She hadn’t met one goddamn person who wanted to give her the time of day unless she had money _(bottlecaps,_ which seemed _awfully fucking random_ to her) or did them a favour.

She wasn’t a good suburban wife and mother by a long shot, though, so she figured she should stop feeling indignant that people wouldn’t _help_ her. She could pull her weight if it meant she got her bearings, which was what she had to prioritize.

_(Guilt gnawed at her stomach because she was pretty sure her kidnapped child was supposed to top that list, but she was more afraid for herself than for her baby— hell she didn’t even know if Shaun was still alive. They might have kidnapped him a hundred years ago and she’d never know the difference)_

The sign to Goodneighbor was pristine and Audrey felt better just looking at it, even as Codsworth continued to fuss about the conditions. She had a decent amount of caps saved up, and if she had any sort of grip on Wasteland economy, one cap was one dollar and everything was rounded— it wasn’t much, but it would cover basic amenities long enough for her to make them up doing odd jobs.

 _Ghouls and chem heads,_ the officer had said. She had no idea what either of those were, though neither were said in a particularly friendly, upbeat tone; then again, she wasn’t quite so certain she even liked Diamond City at all. Maybe they were totally wrong about this place and just massively stuck up.

The gates parted easily, with two men in suits looking up briefly as she entered and lifting their guns in a lazy, perfunctory way— just to let her know they had them. That was fine— a lot easier than some of the other settlements she’d been to. The major ones all seemed to have such _stringent_ entry requirements and were so _hesitant_ to let people in, which seemed… immensely cold, to her. The thought of turning someone away who was going to die otherwise…

“Hey there… welcome to Goodneighbor.” A man in a leather jacket approached her, compulsively putting a lit cigarette to his mouth and then lowering it. She tensed but smiled— it was the friendliest greeting she’d gotten in a long time. “First time visiting?” he asked before she could respond. She nodded and opened her mouth, but he barrelled on. “Can’t go wandering around without insurance.”

She hadn’t gotten this far by being a fucking idiot.

“Insurance,” she said flatly, and he must have read on her face that she wasn’t buying it.

“Don’t be like that— I think you’re gunna like what I have to offer,” he said, grinning as he huffed on that idiot smoke of his.

“Look, you aren’t getting anything from me but a big bloody stab wound if you don’t fuck off,” she snapped, but he could smell the exhaustion on her. Even if she had looked at all the type to actually follow through on the threat— and she liked to think she didn’t and wouldn’t— she was in no shape to. He sneered, his mouth twisting in a particularly ugly manner.

“Listen kiddo, you hand over everything you got in your pockets, or you’re gunna start having accidents— _big, bloody_ accidents.” Panic spiked in her because if she fought this guy, she’d get kicked out back into the Ruins— _hopefully._ They could also just shoot her and leave her for dead where she stood if they were so inclined, and she would have died not a month out of the Vault.

But if she gave him all her cash, she was just as fucked. What was she gunna do, sleep on the road? She hadn’t been out here long, but long enough to know that doing that was the quickest way to losing whatever this asshole didn’t take from her to start.

“Whoa, whoa. Time out.” She jumped a little, terror making her limbs feel electric and out of her control. A man came out of the alley— a very, very sick man if she knew anything about medicine. He didn’t… _seem_ ill, but he definitely looked it. His skin was pulled tight over his face and seemed to be tearing, and his eyes were entirely black. He was missing a nose and his ears were fused to the sides of his head, both of which were much more obvious clues.

He was also wearing some kind of American Revolution costume, but she could only try to explain so many weird fucking things in her head at once.

“Someone steps through that gate the first time, they’re a guest. You lay off that extortion crap,” the man scolded, keeping his voice light and casual.

“What do you care? She ain’t one of us,” the thug said impatiently, turning his full attention to the Founding Father. There was some very, very thinly veiled resentment there, but either the one in the frock didn’t see it or didn’t care.

“No love for your mayor, Finn? I said let her go.” There was a very _slight_ change of tone there, a warning if Audrey had ever heard one. It was kind of like her boss before the war when she inevitably got worked up about something. _I like you, Audrey, but don’t push your luck._

She really didn’t think this Finn guy was going to get fired.

“You’re soft, Hancock,” Finn said dismissively, that resentment churning just under his skin. “You keep letting outsiders walk all over us, one day there’ll be a new mayor.” Audrey stood stock still, trying to weigh her odds. She _could_ try to slip away before she was made an example of, but she’d have to dodge the entire guard force _and_ try to _sneak_ with a Mr. Handy robot trailing her. And what was out there for her anyway? A long fucking trek back to Diamond City, hungry and helpless and armed with a laser gun with no ammo and a switchblade.

She could also take her chances hoping this situation resolved itself in her favour, as both the men seemed to forget she was standing there.

“Come on, man. This is _me_ we’re talking about,” Frock Coat- Hancock, Finn had called him- said, gesturing outwards with his arms and approaching Finn. _Well shit._ She cast a look over to Codsworth, who seemed just as antsy as her. She could always _try_ fighting her way out- between her and the bot, they could probably cut a swath and take their chances on _probable_ death instead of _certain_ death. “Let me tell you something.”

Hancock put his hand on Finn’s shoulder and then faster than Audrey could inhale to yelp, was stabbing holes in the man. It went on for what Audrey considered an _excessive_ amount of time, until Finn finally gurgled his last breath and fell still.

“Now why’d you have to go and say that, huh? Breaking my heart over here.” Hancock was scolding the body which didn’t do a lot to put Audrey at ease. “You all right, sister?”

It took her a few moments to register that he was asking _her_ that. She heard it, and processed it, but… she couldn’t really remember anyone asking after her wellbeing before she’d made herself useful to them. “You killed him,” she blurted, guilt rolling in her stomach. If she hadn’t thrown that stupid line out hoping he’d fuck off, that guy would be alive.

“Got a good pair of eyes on ya. I think you’ll fit in here,” he said, still with that pleasant goddamn smile. “Goodneighbor’s of the people, for the people, you feel me? Stay cool and you’ll be part of the neighbourhood.”

“I… I can do that,” she said, and could practically _feel_ Codsworth glaring at her. She ignored him, resolved to do so until he grasped that she did not run away from home and leave Nate and Shaun to their own devices to traipse about the post-nuclear remains of Boston. If she had her way, a lot of things would be different— but they weren’t, and there she was, needing food, water, and a bed.

“So long as you remember who’s in charge.” There was no friendly veil draped across that statement, but a clear threat punctuated with an absent kick at Finn’s body. Hancock walked away, back towards a redhead who had been relaxed against a building for the entire event. She straightened as he approached and followed him into the old brick building.

“This didn’t happen in Diamond City,” Codsworth said shortly.

He wasn’t _wrong._

**Author's Note:**

> My writing blog where everything gets posted first and I don't forget to post things. Also you can prompt me for fresh fic instead of drafts like this because this is very much a draft that I dug up.


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